


Ellas

by chandehler



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angry elf, Angst, Clan Lavellan - Freeform, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Game(s), Shock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-16 01:09:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9267056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chandehler/pseuds/chandehler
Summary: Follow the life of Ellas Lavellan. The younger brother of the perfect First of clan Lavellan, Ellas is burdened with the judgmental views of the clan on his curiosity about humans. He grows up to be an outcast and a bit of a rebel. Now, the clan has found a way to send him away with a mission to watch what the shems are planning at the Conclave.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! This fic is extremely self indulgent, and I am absolute trash for my Inquisitor, so sorry in advance! I don't have a schedule set on when I will post the chapters, but I won't abandon it! If anyone id curious, Ellas looks like [this](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3QW2Osv_TJg/WHlpFtRPGhI/AAAAAAAAAGE/QegCA7k1WPkeGbd3EsNyKNVpx6DYMfs-gCL0B/w530-h281-p-rw/2017-01-13.png).

Ellas Lavellan was never very popular in his clan. He had a quick temper and didn’t know how to keep thoughts to himself. His older sister, Siona, however was the opposite. She had charisma and patience and the clan loved her. Their parents were so proud of their little girl, claiming that she could be the next Keeper. Ellas tended to be isolated from his parents, claiming they were busy.

When he was young, he would ask questions about societies outside their clan, but was quickly shamed for his fascination. Afterwards, he kept quiet about the things that didn’t have to do with the clan, but things got worse. Ellas began to rebel; starting fights and staying out in the woods past curfew. His parents only ever cared to discipline him because he embarrassed them, and his Keeper tried to talk to hi, but Ellas knew he was only doing it as a favour for Siona.

 

Ellas was fifteen when he had his first encounter with a human. He had had an argument with the Keeper over his behavior… again. It had been the third time in a month that he had gotten into a fight with one of his peers. Ellas decided that he needed a night in the woods. He was going to get yelled at by his parents for embarrassing them once more anyway, He knew it wasn’t his sister’s fault that they loved her more than him, but he couldn’t take looking at her pitying face.

He was strolling through the forest, admiring the faint glow of the moon cascading across the forest floor, when he heard a branch snap to his left. He was on guard immediately, grabbing for the staff that he had forgotten in the Keeper’s tent. _Fuck._ Ellas saw a figure in against the moonlight.

“Is someone there?” said the figure, in a language he barely understood. Ellas gasped and turned to run away as quickly as he could.

 _That was a human. That was a_ human _!_

 

It was a few days until Ellas decided to go back into the woods alone. This time, he brought his staff, and was ready to defend his clan against the shem. He waited until his parents fell asleep before sneaking out of his tent. The sky was covered in clouds that night, so he walked carefully looking for any signs of humans.

He walked for what seemed like hours before seeing a source of warm light in the distance. Ellas began to walk towards it with caution. The sound of leaves crunching under his feet made him wince. As he got closer, he could hear the sound of someone humming and the smell of burning wood. He hid behind a tree and peeked around to see a human woman cradling her stomach carefully.

He took step closer, feeling curious. The woman stood up slowly to reveal her large belly. Ellas furrowed his brows. _Why is she alone?_ The human turned around to see him with his white hair from behind a tree. She jumped and gave a short yell, grabbing a small knife from the bag laying heavily across her chest. Ellas quickly came out from behind the tree and lifted his hands as a sign of peace

 _“I’m sorry! I’m won’t hurt you,”_ he tried to say in his most soothing tone, which wasn’t very soothing at all.

She looked at him in confusion. Her eyes darted to his staff and then his vallaslin. She let her arm relax and she stood up straight.

 _“Do you speak in the Common Tongue?”_ she asked in a butchered form of Elvish. Ellas shook his head, _“Not much.”_

She nodded and gestured nervously to the ground where she had a blanket laid out, _“Sit?”_

He gave her a wary look before sitting down on the ground. He waited a moment before asking, _“Why are you alone? The woods are dangerous for a shem.”_

She raised an eyebrow but eventually nodded, looking at her hands as she wringed them. _“It’s the only way to keep my baby safe. I would not have been able to keep it...”_ Ellas shifted uncomfortably, not knowing how to deal with the anxious woman. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Ellas cleared his throat, _“I’m sorry for scaring you...”_

That startled a small laugh from her before she looked at him with a soft smile. _“I’m sorry for intruding on your woods. I will try to leave as-”_

_“It’s fine. Stay as long as you want, but you should find a better place to hide. There is a cave not far that you can use.”_

The woman smiled, _“Thank you so much...”_

_“Ellas.”_

_“Claudia.”_

Ellas and Claudia talked for hours, Claudia agreeing to teach him common tongue in exchange for him bringing her food and helping her find the cave.

 

Ellas and Claudia didn’t see each other until the next week after Ellas showed her the cave that he used to hide from the clan. They sat in the small cave, that barely had enough room for the two of them. She taught him words in the common tongue and even had a book that she had managed to grab before she left fer home. He taught her which berries in the woods were safe to eat and brought her herbs that the pregnant women in the clan used. She told him stories of humans and the beautiful buildings in the busy cities all across Thedas. He thought that this must have been what it felt like to have a friend.

They continued their arrangement for months, and eventually Ellas was able to hold a conversation in common tongue. A week after that, he had finally finished the book she lent him. He immediately left to go see her and tell her the good news. The woods were strangely quiet that day. Ellas’ good mood started to wane as he got further into the forest. He could see snapped branches and crushed leaves leading to Claudia’s spot. He began to run.

 _Maybe she’s okay. I’m sure she’s fine._ Claudia never really went into much detail over what or who she was running from and he didn’t have the courage to ask. His bare feet pounded against the forest floor until he got to the cave. He skidded to a stop, seeing a freshly kicked out fire and Claudia’s things scattered all over the place. Ellas’ throat closed up as he felt the breath leave his lungs.

He looked for signs of where she may have been taken, spotting more broken branches going in the direction of the roads that the humans used for travel. Ellas shot off in the direction of the clues, making sure to check for any change in direction. He ran for longer than he thought he possibly could before he found her being locked into a small wooden caravan by three men.

“Claudia!” he yelled, pulling his staff from his back.

The group of men turned to look at Ellas and grabbed their weapons. His worry for Claudia was covered by the rage he felt for those men. He threw all he had into his attacks, knocking one of them with the hilt of his staff, throwing balls of fire at the others. After they were all on the ground, Ellas leaned on his staff to catch his breath before limping over to the caravan door and breaking off the lock.

“Ellas?”

Her voice was so weak and breathless, he fet a pang in his chest. _No, she’s fine. I saved her._ He got into the caravan and crawled up next her as she laid against the wall.

“Everything is fine, Clauds. I’ve got you,” he choked out, looking down at her bleeding stomach, “You’re okay.”

He looked at Claudia’s face and she smiled as tears poured down her face. She reached a bloody shaking hand out to touch his vallaslin. “Thank you.”

_Wait, why does that sound like she’s saying goodbye?_

“Claudia! You’re going to be okay! I’ll take you to the clan and they can heal you.” He reached out to try and use what little healing magic he could, frantically reaching into the fade as the bleeding continued.

 _“Ma ghilana mir din'an,”_ she whispered hoarsely _, “It will be alright.”_

Ellas let out a choked sob, clutched at her torn dress, knowing there was nothing he could do but hold her until her end came. Claudia rested her head against his hand, closing her eyes, the tears beginning to dry. Ellas whispered soothing words until she let out her last breath, body going limp in his arms. He then began to openly break down, holding her against him as she laid still and cold.

After what felt like hours, his cries turned to sniffles. He gently set her down before going outside to deal with the unconscious men. He could feel his anger boiling to the surface, looking at his friend’s murderers. He could feel the flames of his magic coming to him, even as he wasn’t calling for it.

He heard movement behind him and saw a human mage coming through the woods, holding supplies. After he looked up and noticed the carnage, he pulled out his staff to attack. Ellas let go of all his restraint and yelled, throwing his magic at the man. They went back and forth, Ellas’ flames going everywhere. He could hear screams, but he didn’t care. They killed his friend. The friend that taught him to speak and read, told him stories about humans, found the brightness in everything even though that world is what got her into this. They _killed her_.

After he came back to himself, he looked around to see everything on fire. Four bodies burned in front him and another burned in the caravan. He fell to his knees, exhaustion finally coming forward. He couldn’t cry anymore, his body wouldn’t allow it. He just sat there as he watched the fire he created burn bright.

 

His parents found out later, after Ellas limped back to the camp, covered in blood. Siona ran to catch him just as he was about to fall again.

 _“By the Dread Wolf! Ellas, what happened?”_ she yelled, looking down at him with a worried look. He shook his head and close eyes, resting his head against her shoulder. He didn’t want to talk about it. Not yet. Siona seemed to understand, holding him closer. She guided him to the stream by the camp, waving off their parents attempts to find out what happened.

She sat him down on the shore and guided his hands into the cool, running water. Slowly the dried blood was washed from his hands, blood and dirt still caked beneath his fingernails. She didn’t say anything, just continued to clean him off. It was rare that he would let anyone touch him for so long, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was so tired. He closed his eyes, but the image of Claudia lying in limp in his arms, the burning bodies surrounding him, came flashing forward. He let out a whimper, causing Siona to startle. She stopped what she was doing, afraid she had hurt him.

He looked up at her with tired eyes, head pounding. Siona sighed and walked him back the camp and led him to their shared tent. She handed him a clean set of clothes before going to wait outside the tent. Ellas could barely register getting dressed or having his dirty clothes taken from his hands. He was led to the sleeping roll on the floor and covered by a thick blanket.

He couldn’t close his eyes. He didn’t want to see the blood and fire again. So Ellas stayed awake, listening to the clan move around. Listening to the clan whisper about him, wondering what happened. Listening to his sister argue with their parents, telling them to leave him alone. He felt the tears begin to pool again.

 

_Ten Years Later_

“The clan needs to know what the shems are planning at the Conclave,” Keeper Lavellan’s voice was annoyingly calm as he sat to next Ellas, hands clasped in his lap.

“What does that have to do with me?” Ellas sighed, not looking up from his chores.

“We’ve decided to send you.”

Ellas dropped herbs he was crushing, pausing before he looked up at the older elf, “Excuse me? What do you mean _we_?”

The Keeper’s face didn’t change, “The clan and I had a meeti-”

“The clan? I’m a _part_ of the clan, you know. Were you even going to ask for my opinion on this?” Ellas began to stand, his voice raising.

“That what I am doing now, Ellas. You know common tongue much better than we do and we are all aware of your… past with the humans-”

“My _past_ ? Don’t talk to me about my ‘ _past_ with with the humans.’ This isn’t asking me, this is telling me! You just know that no one would miss me being gone!”

“Now you know that’s not true. We would all miss you very much. It’s just-”

“Don’t fucking lie to me! You want me to go? Fine, I’ll go.”

The Keeper sighed and stood up to stand in front of Ellas, moving to put a hand on the fuming elf’s shoulder. Ellas resisted knocking his hand away as he glared at him. “You will do us proud and sneak into the temple. You will find out what the shems are planning to do to ‘fix’ the mess they made. It could affect all of us.”

Ellas looked down and clenched his fist and jaw, “Yes, Keeper Lavellan.” The Keeper smiled down at him, giving his shoulder one last squeeze before backing away. “The journey to The Temple of Sacred Ashes is a one week journey and the Conclave will be held in two weeks, so come to me when you are prepared to leave. I will give you the information you will need.”

Once Keeper Lavellan was out of sight, Ellas plopped onto the ground with a huff, “Fucking asshole.”

 

Ellas started packing that night. It wasn’t like he had much to bring with him anyway. He heard the sound of his tent flap lifting while he shoved his book into his knapsack.

“So, you decided to go?”

Ellas turned his head to look at his sister, “Like he would have given me much of a choice. Plus, imagine how mom and dad would react if I said no. I can hear it now. ‘Ellas, you’ve disappointed us. Don’t you understand that everything you do is a reflection on us? Your sister is the Keeper’s first and that means that you have to be careful! You don’t want to ruin your sister’s future do you?’” he said mocking their tone. Siona gave a little snort before covering her mouth, “It _does_ sound like them... I’m sorry they’re making you go.”

Ellas shrugged sitting down on the small stool in the tent, “It’s not like I wanna be here anyway. Hopefully this will be a nice vacation.”

“I’ll miss you.”

“I won’t.”

Siona punched his arm, making him laugh. He looked down, unwilling to actually admit he would miss her. She smiled at him sadly, knowing what he meant.

  


At the end of the week, Ellas stood at the road leading to The Temple of Sacred Ashes. His clan gathered around him to see him off, Siona at the front of the group. She pulled him in for a hug that he reluctantly returned. His parents were behind her, standing stiff and uncomfortable. His mother came and pulled him down to give him an awkward hug while his father patted him on the shoulder.

He nodded to them before he climbed onto the back of one of the halla. As he moved forward, he looked back one more time. Siona was the only one still watching him. She gave a small wave that he returned, before looking back on the road ahead of him. _This is gonna be a long ride._

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the first part of this (probably long) story. If you want to talk or watch me gush over Ellas you can follow me on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/chandehler/) and [Tumblr](http://chandehler.tumblr.com/).


End file.
